Improvement in spring be d-bottoms



' B. SCHAPKBR. Spring Bed-Bottom. A

Patented May 2o, 1879.

No. 215,482.v

www@ EJEIEIEIEIE WITNESSES INVENTOR ATTORN EY UNITED STATES PATENTOEEICE.

BERNARD seEAPKER, on EvANsvILLE, INDIANA.

`IMPROVEMENT IN SPRING BE'D-BOTTOMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No.` 215,482, dated May 20,1879; application led May 4, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BERNARD SOHAPKER,

of Evansville, in the county of Vanderburg and State of Indiana, haveinvented a new and valuable Improvement in Spring Bed- Bottoms; and l dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the construction and operation of the same, referencebeing had -to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification,and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon. Figure l ofthe drawings is a representation of a perspective view of a stead,showing the springs, head-blocks, and part of the mattressprotector;Fig. 2 is a plan view of the headblocks arranged; Fig. 3 is a top viewof the mattress-protector, showing the diagram of the head-blocks; andFigs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 are detail views of the spring and head-block.

This invention has relation to improvements in spring bed-bottoms.

The object of the invention is to construct a bed-bottom of such anature that its component parts may be readily separated and packed insmall compass for transportation, to protect the mattress from thefriction of the springs, and to prevent the springs under that portionof the bed bearing the :most of the occupants weight from undue yieldingto such weight.

The nature of the invention consists in the construction and novelarrangement of asprin g bed-bottom having independent springs resting inslats of the bedstead and provided with independent heads of differentsizes, these in dependent springseated headsV being trans versely longerand fewer in the row at the head and foot, and transversely shorter andmore numerous in the central portion, and all breaking joints.

lt also consists in a bedstead and its slats, and a series ofindependent springs having separate head-blocks of different lengths,and a mattress-protector having upon one side a plan or diagramf of eachhead'- block in its proper relative position, and in each plan a dotindicative of the position of thetang-seat of that particularhead-block, in the slat, as hereinafter shown and described.

In the annexed drawings, the letter A designates an ordinary bedsteadhaving the spaced transverse slats B applied thereto in any suitablemanner. C represents the springs composing the bottom, the same beingseparate and independent. This spring is made of wire coiled into theform of a volute, and has at its upper end a tang, a, and at its lowerend a tang, I).

The tang a is inserted into a perforation, c, in a head-block, C', andis locked thereto by means of a T-cleat, d, extending across the topwhirl of the spring and secured to the head-block in any suitablemanner, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

The lower tang, b, is inserted in a seat, e,V formed with an awl orother instrument in the slats.

As shown in Fig. 2, the spring-seated blocks C are of various sizes,being largest at the head and foot of the bed-bottom, and graduallydecreasing in length toward its middle portion, where they are morenumerous. Each head-block having its appropriate spring, the latter arealso more numerous at the middle portion of the bottom, where thegreatest weight of the occupant is received, than at its ends. By thismeans the mattress is prevented from sinking at the middle of the bedunduly. At the same time a proper comfortable yielding of the springs ispreserved.

The springs may be readily detached from the slots for transportation bydrawing their .tangs b out of their seats in theslats".

'Between the head-blocks, which, to prevent the presence of bed-bugs,are made of red cedar, and the mattress is a protector, D, of anysuitable material, as cotton duck or canvas, having upon its lateraledges a broad hem, forming a sleeve, d, in which is inserted a redcedarrod,f, extending from end to end thereof'. These rods hang down at eachside of the bed, but not outside the rails, outside of the lateral rowsof springs, and prevent them from being bent outward.

rlhe protector D efectually prevents themattress from injury from thefriction of the hea'dblocks.A It has upon its top side a diagram of thehead-blocks C in their relative positions in the bed-bottom, each planhaving` a central dot, li, indicative of the position on the slats atwhich the seats e should be made.

Thev head-blocks and diagrams are correspondingly numbered.

The protector is laid upon the slats and smoothed out. The seats c arethen formed by forcing a pointed aWl or other instrument through thesaid dots z' vertically into the slats. They are thus laid oft' intotheir proper positions.

The head-blocks C in one row break joints with those in the adjacentrows, and, like rods f, are made of red cedar, in order that by theiraromatic odor bed-bu gs may be prevented from infesting the bed.

I am aware that a detachable covering consisting of a canvas spreadhaving weighted strips in its four edges, and being adapted to restdirectly upon the coiled springs of a bedbottoni, is not new, and I donot claim such invention.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure vby Letters Patent, is-

1. A spring bed-bottom consisting of independent springs resting in theslats of the bedstead and havingindependent heads of different sizes,.these independently springseated heads being transversely longer andfewer in the row at the head and foot, and transversely shorter and morenumerous in the central portion, and all breaking joints, in the mannerherein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. Ihe combination, with a bedstead, its slats, anda series ofindependent springs having separate head-bl ocks C ,of differentlengths, of a mattress-protector, D, having upon one side a plan ordiagram of each head-block in its proper relative position, and in eachplan a dot indicative ot' the position of the tangseatof that particularhead-block in the slat, substantially as specified..

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my namein the presence of two witnesses.

BERNARD SGHAPKER.

Witnesses: i

HENRY F. MILLER, F. S. WEssELER.

